It's hard to deny that certain clichés have sprung up around the subject of team-building exercises - many an employee wonders what cringe-worthy activities they might be asked to partake in by a boss wanting to encourage 'team bonding' - but such exercises have also long been proven to have real value.

You might not have realised, for instance, that as reported by BQ, a lack of collaboration or effective communication has been linked to almost nine in 10 workplace failures, or that staff members with a high engagement level are 87% less likely to leave a company than those for whom engagement is low.
It is such statistics and circumstances that motivate many a business owner to enquire about the possibility of holding their corporate meetings and seminars in the impressive surroundings of Château Bouffémont. But what are some of the other factors that indicate team-building exercises could be a vital investment for your own firm?

Creativity isn't needed only by artists and designers - even companies in the most traditionally 'uncreative', corporate sectors benefit greatly from staff members who are a constant source of new ideas. Team-building exercises can help to stimulate your employees' creative instinct by challenging them to think of new and interesting ways to tackle a problem.

As your team members partake in your chosen team-building exercises, you should get a better sense of the personalities, strengths and possibly weaknesses of everyone involved. Are certain people especially good at getting their team organised? Maybe others are good at resolving potential disagreements between their colleagues, while some staff members are at their most comfortable when following instruction?

Are there certain employees of yours who hardly ever communicate with each other in the office, despite having complementary and potentially even overlapping roles? Wouldn’t it good if you could help those people to get to know each other, in a way that isn’t too socially awkward for them? A similar thing could be said for the relationship between team leaders and lower-ranked staff. Team-building exercises can encourage otherwise unlikely relationships to flourish.

When your workers are forced by team-building exercises to work closely with each other, discussing how they can overcome challenges or complete a certain task better, a bond develops that may otherwise not develop. Even when an individual employee contributes a lot to the successful completion of a certain task, they feel more fulfilled. It all helps to cultivate a sense of team unity and contentment that translates really well back in the office.

Fair enough, so you may be holding your team-building exercises in an enchanting setting like that of Château Bouffémont, but the magic created between your staffers during such exercises won’t disappear when you all return home. Your employees smiling and laughing together when taking on team-building exercises does help to improve chemistry even once you’re back in a much less glamorous and more workmanlike environment.

Team-building exercises don’t deserve to be mocked, or at least, not without a real appreciation of the great good that they can do. When your business stands to see greater productivity, revenues and growth from a team-building break, such activities deserve to be taken very seriously indeed.